Next week kicks off National Wildflower Week.  Always the first full week of May, National Wildflower Week commemorates the colorful blossoms that bring our landscapes to life. Whether they are on mountainsides, pastures or our own back yards, wildflowers create habitat, help conserve water and reduce erosion.

The month of May is a very exciting time of transition in the plant kingdom.  Look around and you’ll see black cherry trees, sassafras, and red oaks flowering.  Trees leaf out during the first half of May in most of Pennsylvania, often prompted by a good rain that follows warm days.  Wind pollinated tree species produce pollen either just before or during leaf-out, so that the pollen is blown to the flowers without interference from the leaves.  As the trees leaf-out, the ephemeral woodland wildflowers begin to wane. Late-spring woodland wildflowers blooming now include mayapples, trillium, and yellow and pink lady’s slippers.  As they bloom, peak, and wane all around us, it’s hard not to go a little “wild” about wildflowers!     

Lady Bird Johnson once said “native plants give us a sense of where we are in this great land of ours.” The former first lady had a passion for native plants and the value they serve in restoring and creating sustainable, beautiful landscapes. 

One native wildflower that is sure to let you know you’re at home in Pennsylvania, is our state flower, the Mountain Laurel.  Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) was adopted as the official state flower in 1933.  This broadleaf evergreen is usually a 12-20 ft. shrub, but is occasionally taller and single-trunked, attaining small tree stature. Each spring and early summer, the woods and mountainsides of Pennsylvania come alive, as mountain laurel clusters of delicate blooms open in umbrella-like fashion in red, pink or white.

Fun Fact:  Native American people fashioned spoons out of the bark of the mountain laurel, which they referred to as “spoonwood.”

For more information on Pennsylvania native wildflowers, visit the Lady Bird Johnson Wild Flower Center.

Just as they differ in appearance, each of our Pennsylvania trout species has slight variations in their preferred habitat. 

Brook trout live naturally in small, cold, clean streams. They also adapt to ponds and lakes, as well as instream beaver ponds. Of all the members of the char family, brook trout adapt most easily to their environment and can endure the widest range of conditions.  They will tolerate relatively acidic waters, but not temperatures much over 65 degrees.

Brown trout may be found in all of the state’s watersheds, from limestone spring creeks, infertile headwaters and swampy outflows to suitable habitat in the larger rivers and reservoir tailwaters.  A brown trout’s optimum water temperature range is 50 to 60 degrees, although it can tolerate water temperatures in the low 70s.  Like brook trout, they are also somewhat tolerant of acidity.

Rainbow trout are considered fastwater fish, preferring the swift runs and riffle areas of streams. They may live in small creeks, as well as suitable spots in large rivers, the tailwaters of dams, and in lakes and reservoirs. Their optimum water temperature is about 55 degrees. Although they do best when the water is under 70 degrees, they can withstand temperatures into the 70s if there is plenty of oxygen and a cool, shady place to which they can retreat. Rainbows are the trout least tolerant of acidity. They do best in slightly alkaline waters.

Despite their differences, all trout need just a few basic things in their habitat to survive:  cold water, clean water, food to eat, places to hide from predators, and clean gravel to lay their eggs in.  These things may sound simple, but factors such as streambank erosion can have major negative impact.  Eroding streambanks and increasing sedimentation into the region’s streams can smother aquatic life as it covers the stream’s substrate. 

For the past decade, NPC has been a part of the Northcentral Stream Restoration Partnership, working together to decrease erosion and sedimentation, improve water quality for the public, and increase aquatic habitat on agriculturally impaired streams in northcentral Pennsylvania.  The partnership is comprised of NPC, PA Department of Environmental Protection, PA Fish and Boat Commission, and the County Conservation Districts. To date, we have worked at over 140 sites installing habitat structures and are continuing to see steady improvements to overall stream quality!

You can help work on projects to create more access to creeks and streams and rivers for fishing, paddling and splashing. You can create more access to trails for walking and birding and biking and skiing. Your support of the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy during Raise the Region helps land conservation projects, public access projects, and projects to improve streams move ahead. Donate by clicking here.

“March Madness” may refer to college basketball playoffs, but at NPC it’s Macro Madness.

Macroinvertebrates are animals that don’t have a skeleton inside their body and are big enough you can see them without a magnifying glass or microscope.

Macroinvertebrates, often just referred to as “macros,” are one way scientists test water quality. Some macros can only live in clean water, some can live in water with a little pollution, and others can live in water with a lot of pollution.

Examples of macros are mayflies, stoneflies, dragonflies, scuds, snails, and leeches.

Macros are categorized based on how clean the water must be for them to live there. Some macros are more tolerant of sediment and pollution than others.

Here are some tolerant macros. They can handle living in polluted water, or water that has sediment in it.

Aquatic Earthworms (Oligochaeta)

These worms are pollution tolerant, meaning they can live in polluted water. Their body is soft, cylindrical, and long – like the earthworms you find in your yard or on pavement after a summer rainstorm. The body is divided into many segments (usually 40-200).

Aquatic earthworms have a life span between several weeks to years. They reproduce sexually or by dividing their bodies. Mating usually occurs in the late summer to early fall.

There are about 10 different families of aquatic worms in North America. Aquatic earthworms are just one of the families. They live in lakes, ponds, streams, and wetlands.

Aquatic earthworms don’t have suckers (leeches have suckers) or eye spots. They eat a lot of different things. They are detritivores (eat decomposing plant and animal material), algivores (eat algae), and predators.

Some aquatic worms are very tolerant of pollution (long red ones) while others are very pollution sensitive. The presence of high numbers of pollution tolerant worms at a site may indicate polluted conditions.

Midge Larvae (Chironomus)

Midge Larvae are another pollution tolerant species. Midges are small insects that look like mosquitoes, but don’t bite. Midges, like a lot of insects, go through various life stages.

When they are larvae that live in streams and rivers. That are usually on the bottom of the waterway in among the water plants or tree limbs or branches that have fallen in.

Midge larvae are important to many stream and river systems. Because of how much leaf litter and plant material they eat, the larvae help recycle nutrients in these systems.

Midge larvae are also a food source for other animals. Some of the organisms that feed on them include insects, fish, birds, and other aquatic invertebrates. Midge larvae are often most active at night in the dark, this provides some protection from predators.

The 4 life stages a midge experiences are the egg, larvae, pupa, and adult stages. There are stages within some of these stages as well.  During the larvae stage midges go through another 4 stages. The 4 larvae stages are known as ‘instars’, and can last anywhere from 2 weeks to 4 years.

Leeches (Erpobdella)

Leeches can live in polluted water. They are considered a pollution tolerant taxa.

Leeches are flatter than worms, but not completely flat. They have a slight rounding to their back, but are pretty flat on the bottom.

While some types of leeches have suckers and suck blood, Erpobdella leeches eat invertebrates smaller than they are. They do this by swallowing their food whole.

Leeches are most common in warm areas of the stream or warm streams. Generally this is the shallower areas. If the water isn’t too deep, it’s easier for the sunlight to warm up the water. In shallow areas the stream isn’t usually moving as fast. Leeches like the slower moving water. They’ll use the plants, stones, and sticks for shelter.

“Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize February, one of the most difficult months in the United States for wild birds, as National Bird-Feeding Month. During this month, individuals are encouraged to provide food, water, and shelter to help wild birds survive. This assistance benefits the environment by supplementing wild bird’s natural diet of weed seeds and insects. Currently, one third of the U.S. adult population feeds wild birds in their backyards.”
~Senator John Porter of Illinois in 1994

Bird feeders are very popular and a great way to work on your bird identification skills (while the birds are stationary and eating).

While over 20 types of seeds are sold as birdseed you can’t go wrong with the small black-oil sunflower seed. This seed is a favorite of many smaller birds, such as chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice. The seed has a high oil content. This nutritionally important for birds. The seed coat makes it easy for them to crack open.

Some birds, like woodpeckers, chickadees, and nuthatches like suet. Suet is animal fat. Some grocery stores sell it in the meat department, but you can also find suet cakes at hardware stores or feed stores. For suet cakes, the animal fat is melted down and often mixed with bits of fruit or seeds, then molded into a square.

Peanuts are another bird favorite. Blue jay, downy woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker, tufted tit-mouse, black-capped chickadee, cardinal, among others are the birds you can expect to see eating peanuts or peanut pieces at your feeder. Something to keep in mind, however, is squirrels also like peanuts. And while we like squirrels, we understand they can create problems.

Cracked corn in your feeder will attract mourning dove, cardinal, American goldfinch, red-bellied woodpecker, pileated woodpecker, downy wood-pecker, hairy woodpecker, white-breasted nuthatch, and others. Again, the squirrel caution comes in, but you should also keep an eye out for signs of deer raiding your corn.

It’s too early for humming birds to be in your yard, but it’s not too early to be thinking about how you can attract them this summer. Plants that hummingbirds are attracted to include: bee balm, cardinal flower. trumpet vine, native columbine, and jewelweed. Starting thinking about how you can include some of these in your summer gardening plans.

You can also use a hummingbird feeder. The feeder is filled with a syrup of one part granulated sugar to four parts water. You’ll need to heat water then add sugar, stirring until it dissolved. Let the mixture cool before filling your feeder.

Clean your feeder at least once a week. There have been fungus outbreaks at feeders that have caused infections in birds.

Hang your feeder in an area that is somewhat shaded. You could suspend it with string from a tree branch or use a homemade post. A nifty tip is to smear petroleum jelly on the string to keep ants out of the feeder.

Enjoy feeding the birds!!